On This Day in History

April 4

Historical Events

1581 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his galleon "Golden Hind" at Deptford, England.

1789 First US Congress begins regular sessions during George Washington's presidency at Federal Hall, NYC (ends 1791).

1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed in Washington, D.C.

1968 US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.

1973 World Trade Center, then the world's tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates, the founders of Microsoft

1975 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800.

More Historical Events

Famous Birthdays

Linus Yale Jr. 1821 - 1868 Isoroku Yamamoto 1884 - 1943

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán 67th Birthday Robert Downey Jr 59th Birthday

Also Muddy Waters, Maya Angelou and Heath Ledger.

More Famous Birthdays

Famous Deaths

William Henry Harrison 1773 - 1841 Karl Benz 1844 - 1929

Also John Napier and André Michelin.

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Martin Luther King Shot Dead

Martin Luther King Jr, the celebrated (‘I have a dream’) civil rights campaigner, was shot dead on this day as he stood on a motel balcony in Memphis Tennessee.

Assassination of Martin Luther King